Magazine mock up

These are the 3 pages that I quickly mocked up on Word. I am going to use these drafts as a basic guideline for my real magazine pages. My next stop is to design these 3 pages in Photoshop.

Cover line ideas:

• Ed sheeran drops new music video
• Kanye's top 10- kanye west counts down his top 10 albums of 2014
• BRITS- full coverage on everything brits
• On tour with mcbusted
• Behind the scenes with beyonce
• Win tickets to one directions 'on the road again' tour
• Charli xcx's twitter feud 
• Miley's home struggles 
• Justin bieber: jailed again

Adele Q magazine front cover analysis

Adele Q magazine front cover Analysis

Adele is featured on the front cover of this Q magazine; she is a popular music star and it would therefore attract a large audience. Adele is also of the soul/ pop genre which would again engage a large amount of people.

She is shown looking very glamorous, with a direct mode of address which simulates an individual interaction with the reader. This creates an immediate relationship between the reader and the magazine, making them feel comfortable.

There is a slight colour scheme of purple within the front cover: Adele’s nails, eye shadow and clothing are all the same colour which brings the magazine together and gives it a professional feel as it looks neat and sophisticated.

Her hair is made to look as if it is getting blown by the wind which plays with the pun ‘Blows us away’ which is placed under her photograph. This adds an element of humour to the magazine, allowing the audience to have some fun whilst also meeting the entertainment element featured on the uses and gratifications theory.

The Q logo is positioned in the top left corner. It is very large and bold, therefore making it easily recognisable by the target audience. All of the cover lines are placed down the left hand side of the page, giving the cover a fixed, in line feel, whilst also being easily readable.

The ‘300^th addition’ stamp is in a light gold colour, with the text in an italic font, signifying that it has a high level of importance. The smaller text underneath reads ‘Introduced by Paul McCartney whom is viewed as a musical legend; this would again attract an even wider audience.

2 pull quotes are used; the first from Adele: “If you've got it flaunt it”, and the second from U2: “It’s easy to disappear up your own rectum”. The pull quotes work as another way of enticing the reader as they get an insight of what is available to read inside, if they purchase the magazine.

The front cover of this magazine reveals how Q has a varied target audience: A whole different range of artists are mentioned, ranging from Adele to Keith Richards, suggesting that it appeals to a large variety of people. 

Magazine names

This is a mind map of music related words that I brainstormed for my magazine's name.

The words that I particularly like are the ones underlined.

'Unplugged' is the name that I am considering choosing; it defines pop or rock music performed acoustically which I feel is relevant to my genre of magazine.

Rita Ora double page spread

Double page spread

The main image of Rita Ora takes up a large proportion of the page. It also spreads onto the next page enabling the two pages to be connected. She is posing in an interesting way, which adds some excitement. The image of her is in colour, which contrasts nicely with the black and white background, as it allows her to stand out.

The main title reading ‘RITA ORA’ is in a large red bold text, which allows it to be the first thing seen. The opacity has been lowered which enables Rita to be seen in the background. It also covers 2 pages which again brings the whole spread together and avoids it looking like 2 separate pages.

The body text is in a white box, making it stand out from the black (ish) background. The questions are in a red text, again making it stand apart from the rest of the text.

The double page spread also contains:

·        Page numbers

·        Photo caption

·        Photo credit

·        Category title

My magazine images

 These are the images I took to use for my own music magazine; I set up a photo shoot indoors against a brick wall to give it  a somewhat professional look.

There are varied shots which test out different poses and compositions, I varied the shots to ensure that I had at least one which was suitable for my magazine. Some of the images are portrait: these are the ones that I will be using for the front cover, whereas the landscape ones will be used for the double page spread.

Some of the photos were also taken up against a white wall which was done in order to add variety between the double page and front cove: having two different backgrounds enables the pages to not look too similar, however, still allows it to look like the same magazine.

I also tested out different types of lighting to see which worked best.

My next step is to Photoshop some of the images and choose the best ones for the front cover, contents page and double page spread for my magazine.

Music magazines

Popular music magazines available in UK

Kerrang!
Q
NME
Clash
HipHop
Word Up
WRG

Kerrang!:

Kerrang! Is a rock based magazine published by Bauer Media in the UK; the first issue was published on 6th June 1981. The magazine title refers to the sound made when strumming a guitar. 

Bauer Media Group:

Bauer Media Group is a private company that was founded in 1875. They publish worldwide and have a large target audience as they publish many types of magazines (52 other magazines). In 2010 hey had a turnover of 2,129 million euros and turnover an average of 2 billion pounds each year.

Kerrang! Media types:

Kerrang! Radio 102.5 – Rock music radio station that broadcasts to the West Midlands Its target audience is aimed at teens/ young adults as well as an older rock audience.

Kerrang! Awards 

Kerrang! TV –over 1.4 million viewers every month (585,000 are aged 16-34).

Kerrang! Tour

Kerrang! mission statement: 

“Kerrang! Will ensure that we are constantly appealing to our spectrum of readers. From the younger teenage readers who are more open to different genres of rock music – from emo to thrash etc., to the readers who respect Kerrang! as an authority when it comes to our scene’s heritage bands. Each issue will include a balance of bands and scenes to guarantee that we’re providing for our readers’ need for variety and their passionate appetite for their favourite bands as well as their desire to be introduced to new music within our world. We will focus on the BIGGEST things that are going on in our world each week, as well as guaranteeing that we are giving our main base of younger readers everything they need to get into, on top of this the interest in older, harder bands, cementing our role as an educator.” 

Q:

Q is another magazine published by Bauer Media; it was first published in 1986. Q doesn’t have a specific target audience as it focuses on a number of different genres.  Q was founded by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth and was originally to be called ‘Cue’ however; the name was changed to Q as it didn't want to be mistaken for a snooker magazine. Q maintains an audience by frequently giving away free items with certain issues.

Q Media Types:

YouTube Channel

Q Radio station 

Q awards (annual awards show)

The Q target audience is both male and female; the readership is composed of 60% male and 40% female.  Q is the UK’s number 1 actively- purchased music magazine.

Mission statement:

“Q is the magazine that brings music alive. It draws together the biggest stars, the most exciting phenomena, the new artists that matter and a healthy dose of irreverence to create an unmissable widescreen picture of what’s really happening in rock and roll right now.

Every issue features agenda-setting star interviews, the month’s biggest moments in music, and fascinating investigations into the wider world of rock and roll. Each month Q’s comprehensive reviews section gives the last word on all the most important new releases and reissues – and feeds Q’s readers’ hunger for new music to enjoy. 

Q’s reviews section is the ultimate critical overview of music. And magazine’s unrivalled access brings its readers up close and personal with the stars who set the agenda. Q is the ultimate rock and roll read.”

NME (New Musical Express):

NME is published by Inspire, which is part of ICP Media; IPC media began in the 1950’s. ‘Inspire’ publish magazines targeted for males aged 20-30, suggesting that NME is predominantly aimed at men.  NME started in 1952 and is based around the rock genre (Interviews, reviews and promotion of new indie rock music).

The readership of NME is 65.7% men (190,000) and 34.3% women (99,000) – Estimated June 2013.

NME has a unique feature, uncommon to other music magazines: A band index which replaces the contents page. The band index is a list of bands that feature in the issue; listed alphabetical order.